2012-2013 Vital Award Information

This is financial aid information for the upcoming academic year. Please take time to read this information and submit all requested documents by the due date provided to avoid delays in receiving aid.

Applying for Financial Aid

The priority filing period is from January 1st to March 2nd. You can apply after March 2nd but may not be considered for the more limited types of aid.

For students who have been admitted and have completed a FAFSA financial aid award notices are posted to students’ portals in early April. Awards continue to be posted and students notified via their Cal Poly email as FAFSA information is received or scholarship decisions are made.

VERY IMPORTANT: please check your to-do list for any documents needed to finalize your financial aid award. Eligibility for the need-based aid awarded is not final and will not disburse until all required documents are received and reviewed. Failure to submit required documents by November 1, 2012 will result in the cancellation of any campus based funds (SEOG, Perkins or Work Study).

New for 2012-13, if you are filing your taxes electronically, 3 weeks after filing you can update the FAFSA with accurate tax return information by going to FAFSA.gov and when you change your tax filing status to complete, an option to use the IRS Data Retrieval will appear. Follow the instructions to upload the tax data directly into the FAFSA.

Accepting or Declining Your Aid

You need to accept or decline scholarships, loans and work-study. Grant aid is automatically accepted for you as we assume that you want all grant money offered. Cal Poly scholarships must be accepted to confirm that you want the scholarship and will abide by the scholarship conditions.

Go to my.calpoly.edu to accept scholarships, loans or Federal Work-Study to avoid cancellation.

Receiving Financial Aid Funds

The Student Accounts Office (SAO) receives the grant, scholarship, and/or loan disbursements, pays any outstanding balance and refunds remaining funds to you, the student. For more information on paying university charges with financial aid, click here.

For more information on how refunds (money in excess of your university charges) are provided to you, click here.

Refunds: If you have Direct Deposit, the preferred method, the amount goes directly into a personal bank account. For students without Direct Deposit, the Student Accounts Office produces a check and sends it to the mailing address as listed on my.calpoly.edu. Direct Deposit can be set up from your portal under the Money Matters tab.

Financial aid will be refunded at the start of when each quarter begins. Funds are disbursed on the first day of each quarter only if:

For Plus Loans, a 2012-13 PLUS loan application must be submitted to the Financial Aid Office.

The loan has been certified (first-time borrowers must submit the promissory note and complete entrance counseling)

Full-time enrollment at least one week before classes begin

Funds remain after registration and other costs are paid

What's Next?

If this is your first loan at Cal Poly, after accepting your loans, you will need to complete a master promissory note. It will be available to sign electronically beginning July 1.

Watch for emails from the Financial Aid Office with information about changes to your awards or additional information you might need to complete.

Parents who want to borrow the PLUS must also complete a Direct Loan Application (available on the portal after 2012-13 awards are posted). One parent must complete this form. Credit checks will begin July 1 and if approved, if this is the parent’s first PLUS loan at Cal Poly the parent who applied must complete a master promissory note. It will be available to sign electronically beginning July 1 . No direct parent monies will disburse unless the parent loan application is submitted and the MPN note is completed.

General Award Information

Awards are subject to change.

Common reasons for award adjustment include changes in enrollment, residency status or over-awards due to receipt of aid from other sources.

Awards are based on full-time enrollment (12 units/quarter for undergraduates, teaching credential and second bachelor candidates; 8 units/quarter for graduates). Enrollment in less than full-time units will delay disbursement of grant funds until after the third week of the term.

Aid is based on the units in which you are registered as of the end of the Add/Drop period. If you dropped units after receiving full time funds, you may be required to repay some or all of the funds disbursed. Units added after the add/drop date will not be re-evaluated for reinstatement of grant eligibility.